Revelation Chapter 17 Comments ...
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Kwan bynum's comment on 3/13/2013, 11:54am...
We have thoughts and sought the knowledge of things, but if you pay close attention to the writings of this chapter you will understand that this woman is riding on the back of the beast that was healed by Satan himself. Revelation also states the Satan’s number is 666 is the number of man. Remember man’s sperm produces male and female, and this is clearly stating that Satan’s right hand man is a woman. Babylon is similar to The Garden Of Eden, and the old Hebrew tale is, "God Made The Beginning according To The Ending: In the garden she was created to be a help mate, but she's always been the helper to the serpent to destroy man’s glory that he receives from God. The problem with The Catholic Church is, they tried to adapt themselves to Revelation when it speaks of the 144,000 men who were not defiled by women. They try to live that out and it is not meant for them. With that said, The spiritual principalities unseen who seek a door to possess minds have always had a field day with them and they have never been strong enough spiritually to see it.
Njoku's comment on 2/25/2013, 10:22am...
If you think the Catholic Church is the Anti-Christ, think again. Be careful on how you pull down thrones with your tongue. For every word that you speak you will be judged by it. There are no two ways of interpreting the Bible. If you are of Christ, you know that Bible is spiritually inspired. What is this that I saw that says that the son of man will take fighter and fight. Do you not understand that power was given to the anti-Christ to fight the people of God? The Bible is of no private interpretation (2 Peter 1:20). If one lacks wisdom, ask and it shall be given him/her. Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding, Proverbs 3:5.
Randy's comment on 2/17/2013, 11:14am...
I very much enjoy this, it has a lot easy understanding.
Maryann Castillo's comment on 2/15/2013, 12:30am...
My thought is that the coming of Jesus Christ to pick up His people is closer than you think. Be prepared this is NOT a joke, or fairy tale. It is as real, as real as you and I are reading this at this very moment.
John's comment on 2/14/2013, 2:42am...
I think the Catholic Church is toasted. If you are a part of it, you'd better get out while you still can. COME OUT FROM AMONG THEM AND BE YE NOT PARTAKERS OF THEIR SIN.
TabBaMaMa's comment on 2/11/2013, 7:24pm...
Notable that this Pope chose the 11th of February 2013 to resign.
Mooka's comment on 2/04/2013, 5:34am...
All I can say is after we have been established in the present truth let us come out of Babylon, for it has become a cage of every unclean spirit and hateful bird for greater is he that called us out of the darkness into his marvelous light!
Joshoua's comment on 1/02/2013, 10:05pm...
Revelation 17:17 shows why we don't elect presidential candidate because God rules in the hearts of men.
Jerry's comment about verse 10 on 12/26/2012, 12:23am...
As that is about the time of the end when the papal power will get their last time action, I am thinking that the seven kings is the king of Vatican City State since 1929 after they get their sit again through the Lateran Treaty, on 11th February 1929. Since that time the Vatican City State Monarch has had 7 popes/kings up to the present time. It means we are approaching to the end time of the world.
Beatrice's comment about verse 1 on 11/06/2012, 12:21pm...
I like website. Thank You
Mapkik's comment about verse 10 on 10/27/2012, 6:41pm...
The verse explains itself,”…and one is, and the other is not yet come;…”. This would indicate the one yet to come is not the one that existed at the time of St. John’s writing. If you dove tail this prophesy with that of Ezekiel’s prophecy of the bad shepherd, who has a withered arm and a withered eye. Ezekiel further describes this individual as the Assyrian. As far as I know there have been no historical persons who have held this title. Assyrians assisted the Romans in the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 73 AD. Without their aid Rome could not hope to maintain a siege that lasted 3 ½ years. If this analogy is accurate, you may still ask who then the harlot is and where are the seven hills located? There were three Cities constructed on 7 hills during John’s life. Rome, Constantinople, and Jerusalem, of the three Jerusalem fits the term Babylon (Heaven’s Gate), as Jesus said they themselves do not enter nor do they allow others to enter, heaping burdens and not lifting a finger to help them. I am not being anti-Semitic, but I agree with what St. Ignatius of Antioch (a disciple of John), though Judaism brought about Christianity, Judaism is completely dependent on Christianity. Everything in the Law of Moses was to prepare a people for the coming of our Messiah Jesus Christ. Now that Jesus has come, the temple and temple sacrifice is insufficient for salvation. St. Paul was rather adamant in the letter to the Hebrews, the fallacy of offering sacrifice in the temple after you have accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior, as if Jesus could be sacrifice a second time.
Steve's comment about verse 3 on 5/01/2012, 9:40pm...
is not the beast a representation of the power of church and state united, being controlled by the papacy, the harlot. The scarlet color a symbol of the assumed power of church and state and also the symbol of the terrible persecution that has and will again occur when this beast again rises from the bottomless pit,when worldwide union of church and state occur when protestantism unites with the papacy controlling the governments of this world.
Takirid's comment about verse 11 on 4/29/2012, 9:13pm...
Why Called an Eighth King?
The angel further explains to John: “And the wild beast that was but is not, it is also itself an eighth king, but springs from the seven, and it goes off into destruction.” (Revelation 17:11) The symbolic scarlet-colored wild beast “springs from” the seven heads; that is, it is born from, or owes its existence to, those heads of the original “wild beast . . . out of the sea,” of which the scarlet-colored wild beast is an image. In what way? Well, in 1919 the Anglo-American power was the ascendant head. The previous six heads had fallen, and the position of dominant world power had passed to this dual head and was now centered in it. This seventh head, as the current representative of the line of world powers, was the moving force in establishing the League of Nations and is still the major promoter and financial support of the United Nations. Thus, in symbol, the scarlet-colored wild beast—the eighth king—“springs from” the original seven heads. Viewed in this way, the statement that it sprang from the seven harmonizes well with the earlier revelation that the wild beast with two horns like a lamb (the Anglo-American World Power, the seventh head of that original wild beast) urged the making of the image and gave it life.—Revelation 13:1, 11, 14, 15.
Additionally, original members of the League of Nations included, along with Great Britain, governments that ruled in the seats of some of the previous heads, namely Greece, Iran (Persia), and Italy (Rome). Eventually, governments ruling the territory controlled by the previous six world powers came to be supportive members of the image of the wild beast. In this sense, too, it could be said that this scarlet-colored wild beast sprang from the seven world powers.
Notice that the scarlet-colored wild beast “is also itself an eighth king.” Thus, the United Nations today is designed to look like a world government. At times it has even acted like one, sending armies into the field to resolve international disputes, as in Korea, the Sinai Peninsula, some African countries, and Lebanon. But it is only the image of a king. Like a religious image, it has no real influence or power apart from what is invested in it by those who brought it into existence and worship it. On occasion, this symbolic wild beast looks weak; but it has never experienced the kind of wholesale abandonment by dictator-oriented members that sent the League of Nations reeling into the abyss. (Revelation 17:8) Though holding radically different opinions in other areas, a prominent leader of the former Soviet Union in 1987 joined the popes of Rome in expressing support for the UN. He even called for “a comprehensive system of international security” based on the UN. As John soon learns, the time will come when the UN will act with considerable authority. Then it, in its turn, “goes off into destruction.”
Takirid's comment about verse 10 on 4/29/2012, 8:50pm...
Describing the scarlet-colored wild beast of Revelation 17:3, the angel tells John: “Here is where the intelligence that has wisdom comes in: The seven heads mean seven mountains, where the woman sits on top. And there are seven kings: five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet arrived, but when he does arrive he must remain a short while.” (Revelation 17:9, 10)
The seven heads of that ferocious beast stand for seven “mountains,” or seven “kings.” Both terms are used Scripturally to refer to governmental powers. (Jeremiah 51:24, 25; Daniel 2:34, 35, 44, 45) In the Bible, six world powers are mentioned as having an impact on the affairs of God’s people: Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome. Of these, five had already come and gone by the time John received Revelation, whereas Rome was still very much a world power. This corresponds well with the words, “five have fallen, one is.” But what of “the other” that was due to come?
The Roman Empire endured and even expanded for hundreds of years after John’s day. In 330 C.E., Emperor Constantine moved his capital from Rome to Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. In 395 C.E., the Roman Empire was split into Eastern and Western parts. In 410 C.E., Rome itself fell to Alaric, king of the Visigoths (a Germanic tribe that had converted to the Arian brand of “Christianity”). Germanic tribes (also “Christian”) conquered Spain and much of the territory of Rome in North Africa. There were centuries of upheaval, unrest, and readjustment in Europe. Notable emperors arose in the West, such as Charlemagne, who formed an alliance with Pope Leo III in the 9th century, and Frederick II, who reigned in the 13th century. But their domain, though named the Holy Roman Empire, was much smaller than that of the earlier Roman Empire at its zenith. It was more of a restoration or a continuation of this ancient power than a new empire.
4 Rome’s Eastern Empire, centered at Constantinople, endured in a somewhat uneasy relationship with the Western Empire. In the sixth century, Eastern emperor Justinian I was able to reconquer much of North Africa, and he also intervened in Spain and Italy. In the seventh century, Justinian II recovered for the Empire areas of Macedonia that had been conquered by Slavic tribesmen. By the eighth century, however, much of the former territory of ancient Rome in North Africa, Spain, and Syria had come under the new empire of Islam and thus passed from the control of both Constantinople and Rome.
5 The city of Constantinople itself endured somewhat longer. It survived frequent attacks from Persians, Arabs, Bulgars, and Russians until in 1203 it finally fell—not to Muslims but to Crusaders from the West. In 1453, though, it came under the power of the Muslim Ottoman ruler Mehmed II and soon became capital of the Ottoman, or Turkish, Empire. Thus, although the city of Rome fell in 410 C.E., it took many more centuries for all traces of the political Roman Empire to pass from the world scene. And even then, its influence was still discernible in religious empires based on the papacy of Rome and the Eastern Orthodox churches.
6 By the 15th century, however, some countries were building brand-new empires. While some of these new imperial powers were found in the territory of former colonies of Rome, their empires were not mere continuations of the Roman Empire. Portugal, Spain, France, and Holland all became seats of far-flung domains. But the most successful was Britain, which came to preside over a huge empire on which ‘the sun never set.’ This empire spread at different times over much of North America, Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, as well as the expanse of the South Pacific.
7 By the 19th century, some of the colonies in North America had already broken away from Britain to form the independent United States of America. Politically, some conflict between the new nation and the former motherland continued. Nevertheless, the first world war forced both countries to recognize their common interests and cemented a special relationship between them. Thus, a kind of dual world power came to exist, made up of the United States of America, now the world’s wealthiest nation, and Great Britain, seat of the world’s largest empire. Here, then, is the seventh ‘head,’ or world power, that continues into the time of the end and in the territories of which the modern-day Witnesses of Jehovah first got established. Compared with the long reign of the sixth head, the seventh remains only “a short while,” until God’s Kingdom destroys all national entities.
Takirid's comment on 4/11/2012, 11:17pm...
IT IS the hour of God’s judgment! Listen, then, to the divine message: “And another, a second angel, followed, saying: ‘She has fallen! Babylon the Great has fallen, she who made all the nations drink of the wine of the anger of her fornication!’” (Revelation 14:8) For the first time, but not the last, Revelation focuses attention on Babylon the Great. Later, chapter 17 will describe her as a voluptuous harlot. Who is she? As we shall see, she is a global empire, she is religious, and she is Satan’s counterfeit system that he uses in fighting against the seed of God’s woman. (Revelation 12:17) Babylon the Great is the entire world empire of false religion. She includes all religions that preserve the religious teachings and practices of ancient Babylon and that manifest her spirit.
It was at Babylon, more than 4,000 years ago, that Jehovah confused the tongues of the would-be builders of the Tower of Babel. The different language groups were scattered to the ends of the earth, taking with them the apostate beliefs and practices that are the basis of most religions to this day. (Genesis 11:1-9) Babylon the Great is the religious part of Satan’s organization. (Compare John 8:43-47.) Her most prominent segment today is apostate Christendom, which emerged as a powerful, lawless organization in the fourth century after Christ, with creeds and formalisms derived, not from the Bible, but largely from Babylonish religion.—2 Thessalonians 2:3-12.
. John is struck with wonderment at what he next hears and sees: “And one of the seven angels that had the seven bowls came and spoke with me, saying: ‘Come, I will show you the judgment upon the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, whereas those who inhabit the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.’”—Revelation 17:1, 2.
2 “The great harlot”! Why so shocking a designation? Who is she? Some have identified this symbolic harlot with ancient Rome. But Rome was a political power. This harlot commits fornication with the kings of the earth, and this evidently includes the kings of Rome. Besides, after her destruction, “the kings of the earth” are said to mourn her passing. Therefore, she cannot be a political power. (Revelation 18:9, 10) Additionally, since she is mourned also by the world’s merchants, she could not picture big business. (Revelation 18:15, 16) We read, however, that ‘by her spiritistic practice all the nations were misled.’ (Revelation 18:23) This makes it clear that the great harlot must be a worldwide religious entity.
Which religious entity? Is she the Roman Catholic Church, as some have maintained? Or is she all of Christendom? No, she must be even larger than these if she is to mislead all the nations. She is, in fact, the entire world empire of false religion. Her origin in the mysteries of Babylon is shown in that many Babylonish doctrines and practices are common to religions around the earth. For example, belief in the inherent immortality of the human soul, in a hell of torment, and in a trinity of gods is to be found in most Oriental religions as well as in the sects of Christendom. False religion, spawned more than 4,000 years ago in the ancient city of Babylon, has developed into the modern monstrosity that is called, appropriately, Babylon the Great. Why, though, is she described by the repugnant term “the great harlot”?
Garyloyd's comment on 3/28/2012, 5:31am...
Confusion. Babylon. Sea of people in confusion because they had no peace because the prince of Peace wasn't here so they whore with the first one that showed up,instead of Christ. Not the true Christ but a fake with a new world religion.
Garyloyd's comment on 3/22/2012, 12:43am...
The great whore hasn't been established yet. It has to take a sea of people joined together in a one world system, religious political with the false prophet the antichrist who soon will take over after he heals a deadly wound that is stoping the system that 10 kings in the flesh gets started and antichrist with his powers with bringing lighting down and other tricks that get into power over a new one world system and then puts 10 supernatural kings in their place. When you see this. Warning its satan the wolf dressed as a sheep so don't bow down wait for the true Christ.
Garyloyd's comment on 3/20/2012, 11:19pm...
The 7 mountains are empires past. You know, king of babylon then the meeds & persians took it, then greeks,Romans,mohammedians, and then from 1948 good and bad figs,when Israel became a state and started the generation of the fig tree. Then future antichrist or instead of Christ. Then after a thousand years as it says the 8th is let out for a short season. The catholic church has nothing to do with it.
Donald's comment on 3/12/2012, 9:03pm...
verse 18 says "and the woman which thou sawest is that great city that reigneth over the kings of the earth. This has the be washinton d.c.I feel very strongly that the united states is not only the woman setting on the back of beast, and is the great whore that will be burned with fire by the 10 kings. God bless you.
Edward's comment about verse 9 on 3/04/2012, 11:17pm...
Look at the woman (a woman is a church in prophecy) This woman sits on seven mtns. So it must mean that this is a place. So this church sits upon these mtns. The City of the seven hills. There is only one place this can be refering to Vatican. Vatican is called the city of teh seven hills. Vatican is the Roman Catholic Church. Gods people who are wise will reserch this out and will know. Gods blessing upon your study.
Dann rivera's comment on 1/30/2012, 11:05pm...
Revelation 17:8-11 "The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder, whose names were not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet is. And here is the mind which hath wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains (hills), on which the woman sitteth. And there were seven kings: five have fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven, and goeth to perdition."
The Papal persecution ceased in 1798, when Napoleon Bonapart sent to Rome, exiled Pope Pius VI to Valence in France. At the same time Berthier declared an end the temporal power over much of Europe that the Catholic Church had enjoyed up to that time. It was a humiliating and abrupt end to the long rule that lasted 1260 years.
On February 11, 1929, the Lateran Accords were signed in Rome at the Lateran Palace by Cardinal Gasparri, representing Pope Pius XI, and Mussolini, representing King Victor Emmanuel.
Highlights of the 1929 Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Catholic Churh of Rome:
1. The Italian State recognizd the sovereignty of the Catholic Church, and regarded the Church as an independent member of the International Community. By this agreement the Church obtained an independent state in Rome with an area of about 44 hectares.
2. The Italian State recognized the Roman Catholic Churh as an official religion, and the Catholic Church recognized the independent kingdom of Italy.
3. All anti-cleric laws passed by Italian Parliament since 1870 were annulled and made void.
What the Roman Catholic Church got in 1929 was its independence and sovereignty. The Pope now as not only the supreme head of the Catholic Church universally, but also the indisputable temporal king over the state of Vatican City.
So who are the seven Kings/Popes?
1st - Pius XI - Feb. 11, 1929 to Feb. 10, 1939
2nd - Pius XII - Mar. 2, 1939 to Oct. 9, 1958
3rd - John XXIII - Oct. 28, 1058 to Jun. 3, 1963
4th - Paul VI - Jun. 21, 1963 to Aug. 6, 1978
5th - John Paul I - Aug. 26, 1978 to Sep. 28, 1978
6th - John Paul II - Aug. 16, 1978 to Apr. 2, 2005
7th - Benedict XVI - April 19, 2005 to Apr. _, 2013
"...five have fallen, and one is" - the 6th King/Pope - John Paul II.
"... the other one has not yet come" - 7th King/Pope - Benedict XVI, "...and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." "And the beast that was, and is not, even he is the eighth, and is of the seven." It was not coincidental that John was taken to the time of the 6th King/Pope. It is a divine hint by which God is guiding us to focus out attention on this particular King/Pope, as he plays a very important role in the end-time events.
From this we can conclude that only one more King/Pope will come after Benedict XVI, and he will be the eighth. And this King/Pope, the Devil impersonating John Paul II, will restore the Beast status to the Roman Catholic Church - for during his reign persecution of GOD's people will resume again just as it was in the Middle (Dark) Ages. The beginning of the 3-1/2 days/years - 1260 days of GREAT TRIBULATION.
Susan Dalton's comment about verse 6 on 1/08/2012, 1:54am...
"And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration." (Revelation 17:6)
We drink the blood of Jesus, and the woman drinks ours.
Garyloyd's comment on 12/15/2011, 6:50pm...
How many continents are in the world. I mean in all the world. I think 7. Just to remind you of the truth so you don't pick on the CEO of Rome and other popes of the world.
Melzar daniels's comment on 11/17/2011, 10:03pm...
verse 6: In one breath John writes that the whore is drunken with blood and he wondered with great ADMIRATION. You must remember not so many years ago Jesus was asking him to DRINK HIS BLOOD. If this verse is about somebody actually killing martyrs then John surely would not admire them. This passage is about an entity that similar to the communion drinks the blood of the martyrs. Just as the usa is filled with Christianity so called and seemingly is to be admired, but in reality just like the whore is materialistic and hypocritical.
Some interpreters of end-time prophecy see some kind of partnership with the whore and the beast but this chapter shows NO partnership at all. 1. The 10 horns of the beast hate the whore. When a rodeo bull rider gets on a bull do you see a partnership? The beast doesn't want the whore to reign it here and there, the beast wants to buck her off and eat her flesh and burn her with fire.
My vote is that the usa = babylon the great=whore
Only fairly recently has the usa taken over Iraq including ancient babylon, so in a way the usa president is also the king of babylon and is physically babylon the great, the mightiest superpower of the earth in the end-times, greater even than ancient Babylon the head of gold of Daniel 2.
Korban's comment about verse 8 on 9/25/2011, 12:44pm...
I was taught it was Rome, but now I see it as follows:
1. Egypt
2. Syria
3. Babylon
4. Persia
5. Greece
6. Rome...this is the one that "is" at the time this scripture was written
7. Turkish/Ottoman Empire....this was abolished in 1924
8. Caliphate/Muslim Brotherhood. This was part of the Turkish/Ottoman Empire and is currently being re-established
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